Meredith follows last week's guest anchor, Katie Couric, in filling in this week for Savannah Guthrie, who is on maternity leave.

And her return got the big screen treatment; part of Monday's show was broadcast on Times Square's Jumbotron, including the debut of the new TODAY app, which launches in celebration of our show's 65th anniversary.

"This has been a long time in the making,'' Lauer said. "I think we finally satisfied your agent's demands. We have the masseuse, we've got the male dancers, and yes, we managed to get your picture up on the huge screen in Times Square. So everything OK?"